Family Business
by Steph-Schell
Summary: It had been two years, seven months, one week and six days since Charlie had died. Or, as it said on Bass' chalkboard, since Miles had returned.


It had been two years, seven months, one week and six days since Charlie had died. Or, as it said on Bass' chalkboard, since Miles had returned. Miles was doing a lot better. His good days were finally starting to outnumber his bad ones. Bass had finally broken down a year ago and sent Miles on an actual campaign. The separation had proved good for the general. Miles liked having a purpose and Danny was growing too independent to always have his uncle around. Making Miles a more active part of the militia helped everyone. Including the rebels who signed a peace treaty just eight months ago. There were still factions making noise but they were a lot smaller than before. Miles pointed out that even the United States had had people who didn't like the rules so Bass counted this one as a victory.

And on the topic of Mathesons, Bass had to admit that Danny was blending into the Republic wonderfully. The days he didn't spend at the hospital training to be a doctor, he was with Miles and Bass learning about the Republic. Bass was pretty sure the boy was aware he was being groomed to take over but Danny didn't seem to mind. He was a born leader. Danny had that same spark that Miles had that made people listen when he spoke and follow when he gave orders. But people also liked Danny. He could look frail and in need of protection and it made people want to befriend him. The boy was going to be a fine leader when the time came.

"Afternoon, Uncle Bass," Danny greeted as he eased in the door.

Bass smiled as he looked up. "Hey, Danny. What's with the food?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "It's three o'clock and you forgot to eat again," he explained.

"It can't be," Bass frowned. He glanced at the sun outside and then down at his watch. "And yet it is." Bass sighed. "I guess I do that sometimes."

Danny laughed as he set the tray on the table. "Uncle Bass if it wasn't for Uncle Miles and me, you probably wouldn't eat at all."

"Now that I take offense to," Bass objected good-naturedly. "I managed to run things just fine before you and your uncle came along."

Danny arched an eyebrow. "Do we really want to go through the state of the Republic before Uncle Miles decided to come back? Because that's really embarrassing for you."

Bass took a bite of his food. "Well, we could do that," he nodded. "And then afterwards I would have to ask you about that new girl, her name is Cecilia right?"

Danny covered his face with his hands. "Please don't do this."

"Well isn't that her name?"

"You know damn well that's her name and we are not doing this."

"Did you get that mouth from your uncle?"

Danny peered through his hands. "No. I got it from Charlie. Miles swears worse."

"Fair point." Bass grinned. "So when should I have you and Miss Cecilia over?"

"Please, Uncle Bass, I am begging you not to do this to me. Remember what happened with the last girl."

Bass' grinned broadened. "Oh I remember," he assured the distraught young man between bites. "Quite well."

"You are a cruel, cruel man."

"Tell me something I don't know. Eat up. Miles will have my neck if you don't."

Danny dug into the food before him. "Anyway, I already did the awkward dinner thing."

"Oh really? You introduced her to Miles?'

"Against my better judgment."

Bass chuckled. "What was it like?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "What do you think? No one outside the family can understand Miles. And he doesn't much like trying with them either."

Bass felt a small bit of warm pride run through him at the thought that he and Jeremy were now Danny's family. He looked back down at his food to hide the expression. "So how much of a disaster was it on a scale of one to the Trenton Campaign?"

"You want the real answer?"

"Yes."

Danny paused. "Two."

Bass looked at him in surprise. "Really?"

"That was my exact thought," Danny gestured. "And I'm pretty sure my face looked like that at the end of the night."

"What happened? Don't tell me Miles transformed into an actual human being."

"Don't be dramatic." Danny shook his head. "Cecilia actually enjoyed talking to him."

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah, that was my thought. But she said she liked his sarcasm." Danny shrugged. "She still wants to see me so at this point I refuse to question it."

"Probably safer that way."

They made small talk as they finished eating. Just as the last of the food disappeared, Miles joined them. Bass had always wondered how long it took Danny to get used to seeing his Uncle in his general uniform. "So I hear you didn't manage to scare away Danny's latest girlfriend," Bass said.

"Not for lack of trying," Miles agreed settling into a chair next to his nephew. "At the end of the night she actually told me she had a great time and it was a pleasure to meet me."

Bass looked at Danny. "You need to marry this girl. Seriously, there will never be another one like her."

Danny rolled his eyes. "I hope you realize you are both jerks."

Miles winked at him. "It's part of the charm." Bass noticed the shuttered expression that flickered across his face but made no comment. He knew it had to do with Charlie and she was still a touchy subject for Miles. Suddenly Miles perked up. "Hey, we gotta go."

"Do we?" Bass frowned. He checked his watch. "Oh, yeah, we have to go. Come on, Danny."

Danny frowned as they all got to their feet. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see when we get there," Miles replied.

The two older men ushered him out of the building and down the road. Danny kept asking where they were going but they remained stubbornly silent on the topic. He vaguely knew they were heading towards the medical district but he wasn't sure where exactly. Bass privately hoped the boy liked the surprise they had in store for him. "Here we are," Bass declared.

"What is this?" Danny asked, looking up at the structure that was slowly taking place.

"This is your birthday present," Bass explained.

"We know your birthday isn't for two weeks but we wanted to get this started as soon as possible. And you would have seen the construction on your way to work tomorrow," Miles said.

"So what's it going to be?" Danny wondered.

"A hospital," Bass told him. "A specialized hospital in honor of Maggie." He glanced at the boy. Danny's face was unreadable.

"You talk about her a lot," Miles added. "And you won't say what you do want so Bass and I figured this was something we could do."

Danny's grin spread slowly across his face. "This is wonderful," he said. "It's…it's perfect." He looked at the older men. "Thank you. Maggie would have loved it."

Bass and Miles smiled back at him. "We're glad you like it," Bass said.

"So what does it specialize in?" Danny asked, studying the frame.

"Don't know yet," Miles shrugged.

"We're leaving that for you to decide," Bass expounded. "That's the other part of your present. You get to plan out the entire hospital." He watched as Danny pulled himself up to be taller at that statement.

"And we can discuss it back in the office where it's cooler," Miles declared, tugging at his collar.

Bass smirked at his old friend. "Getting a little warm over there?" he teased.

"Why the hell did I let you talk me into black uniforms?"

"Because it looked intimidating."

"And it's hot as hell right now."

"Always with the whining," Bass sighed. He glanced at Danny. "Danny, why do we put up with your uncle?"

"Because he's the best damn general the Republic ever had, Uncle Bass. You know that."

"True." Bass smiled at Miles. "Look, you can take some layers off. This isn't the Marines anymore. I'm not going to report you."

"I remember hearing that phrase once before."

Bass rolled his eyes. "Miles, do I need to remind you again that we're the ones in charge? Honestly, you're lucky you're pretty."

Miles paused in taking off his jacket. "Bitch, I'm fabulous," he replied. They both tried to keep a straight face but ended up snickering anyway.

"I think I need to hear the uniform story," Danny said as they strolled back to Bass' office.

Bass turned away from Miles flashing a pair of girls a smirk as they strolled by to answer. All the man had done was take off a jacket and unbutton his shirt and suddenly female attention flocked to them. Bass knew better than to tease Miles though. The other man could enjoy it while it lasted. They were both getting up in years. "Back in the Marines it was a serious thing to be out of uniform," he explained. "Your uncle…well, that needs to wait until we're back in private. It's really not something that should be overheard."

They were going to continue talking when someone shouted Danny's name. Danny turned just in time to catch a woman from falling. "Careful," he warned her, "You could hurt yourself."

Bass sucked in a breath as they all realized that the woman Danny had caught was his own mother. He glanced at Miles who was moving towards the two of them. "Don't," he whispered. Miles turned to him with wide eyes. "He needs to do this on his own."

"Bass…"

Bass knew what Miles was afraid of. Danny had only fragile ties to the Republic. He could easily agree to go with his mother and leave them behind. "Let him do it," Bass insisted.

Danny looked at the chained woman in front of him. "Are you alright?" he asked gently.

"Oh, Danny, thank god you're okay," Rachel breathed. She threw her arms over his head so she could hug him. He awkwardly hugged her back. Rachel maneuvered out of the embrace to take his hands in her own.

Before she could speak Aaron came jogging up to them. "Didn't know he could move that fast," Miles whispered. Bass smacked him.

"Danny, you're okay. Thank god. Did anyone hurt you?"

Danny frowned at them. "Why would Uncle Miles or Uncle Bass hurt me? I'm fine."

Rachel shot a glare at them but turned her attention back to Danny. "Danny, sweetie, you have to help us get out of here."

"Out of here?" Danny repeated, still confused.

"We need to escape," Aaron added. He paused to really look at Danny. "I'm sorry about Charlie."

"We're sorry we weren't there," Rachel agreed.

"It's alright," Danny told them. "Uncle Bass made sure Charlie is at peace now." He looked past them and whistled sharply. "Major Neville, I believe you lost two prisoners."

Neville came jogging up with a contingent of soldiers. They started dragging Rachel and Aaron away. "Sorry about that," Neville sighed. "They slipped the line somehow."

Danny looked only mildly interested in that. "Where are you taking them?" he asked.

"Work camp to the west," Neville explained.

"Be careful with them," Bass warned. "The south east corner needs the crops they're going to grow badly. And we can't feed them if we don't have workers."

Miles gave a smirk that verged on cruel. General Matheson was making the briefest appearance. "I'm sure Tom won't mind volunteering to replace any prisoners that get lost along the way."

"I'll see to it that we don't lose any," Tom said with a slight nod.

"Danny, you can't do this!" Rachel called, struggling with her guards. "Danny, I'm your mother!"

Danny looked at her with slight disinterest. "I had a mother," he replied blandly. "Her name was Maggie Foster and she died trying to find me."

Rachel screamed and Tom rolled his eyes. "Gag the prisoner," he ordered. He glanced at Aaron. "You want to try something?" The other man just shook his head. Tom looked back at Danny. "I saw the construction as we were coming up this way. Figured out what kind of hospital you want it to be?"

"Children's hospital maybe," Danny shrugged. "Or a teaching hospital."

"We'll discuss it back at my office," Bass cut in. "Come along Danny."

Danny didn't waste any time joining his uncles. Both Bass and Miles glared at Tom one last time before turning away and leading Danny away from the scene.


End file.
